Renovation - Bathroom

before after

Here is a "quick" renovation project, the second bath. The second bath is located adjacent to the garage and is always a used for a quick washing up. It was functional but didn't look to hot. One of the first things to grab my attention when I moved in was the fact that every square foot of flooring was carpet. This included bathrooms and kitchens. Having refinished the kitchen floor I knew I would be in for some retro surprises. Sure enough the bathrooms carpet was hiding two layers of beautiful vinyl. A sweet little number from the 60's and another fake wood sheet from the 80's. I wanted to do this right so removing everything in the bath was necessary. The toilet had to disappear for a while. This was a treat. My first toilet removal / setting. The bolts were corroded and lost within decades of dirty wax that kept the floor dry. All plumbing was badly corroded and needed to be replaced. I opted for plastic replacements this round. Not to self. If I'm ever going to do bathroom renovations again, plan on replacing all pipes, drains and hoses. It will save a lot of trips to Lowes.



Layers of tasty wall paper were discovered. I removed an electric wall heater which ironically let in more cold air from the garage than heat it put out itself. For an already warped wall I did my best to patch and square it off. After days of patching, curing, sanding, patching, curing sanding... I decided I surrendered.



The project went fairly smooth. In three days the room went through demolition, patching, rewiring and received its first coat of paint on walls and ceiling. The wiring for the light had to be raised a couple feet for the new fixture. A GFI outlet also needed to be added since the last one was part of the cabinet. With some luck I put a hole in the wall where I wanted an outlet after checking for potential power hazards in the wall. Come to find out I drilled right into an empty gang box that was installed for a future phone. The receptacle fit and all I had to do was drop some power to feed it. I ordered some sheet vinyl, got some sv adhesive and all that was left was to throw up some new base trim and bring in the sink, vanity and toilet. The vanity is awesome. Since the base is pulled back from the front of the bowl and the entire thing sits on legs you can see much more of the floor. The result is a bathroom that feels much larger... I like it.